Adoption
by President-Of-S.P.E.W
Summary: At age 23, Rose and Scorpius are living together in a small flat in London. Her habit of bringing in every stray animal she sees hasn't faded with age, however. How will Scorpius react to yet another animal in their home?


**Disclaimer: I do not own anything Harry Potter related. Credit for the role of Scorpius goes to my dear friend, Em.**

-Age 23-

Rose hoped he wouldn't be upset, she really just couldn't help herself. She knew the apartment was much too small, that she and Scorpius, along with her cat Xerxes and his owl Ferret, were already pushing the boundaries of the space they shared, but the little guy looked hungry and he was shivering from the cold… she couldn't have just left him outside.

She'd brought in the little thing and promptly fed and bathed him. He was a noisy little monster, huffing and snorting all the time, but Rose thought he was the cutest thing. She thought about finding him a home- if Scorpius refused to let her keep him.

With Scorpius due to be home any moment, she tucked her newest rescue into their bed, along with one of her old stuffed animals. She wasn't sure how she was going to tell Scorpius about the dog, she just prayed he'd had a good day at the reservation so he'd be a bit more open to the idea.

When he came in the door he set the take-away on the counter and called for Rose. He'd found a place adorned in yellow arches and he hoped the food would be as good as the soda.

He didn't notice anything amiss when he grabbed his fries and went looking for Rose. "Rosee?" he called again, finding her in the bedroom. "Food is here."

Rose felt a faint blush rise to her cheeks as she grinned innocently. She shifted how she was standing, trying to block the view of the dog that was snoring quietly behind her. She'd prepared to /tell/ him about the dog first, not him walk in and see it.

"Oh, thanks, love. I'll be in there in a minute." She tucked her hair behind her ear and pretended to cough when the dog let out a loud snort.

He pops another fry in his mouth and nods. "Alright,"  
When she coughed he frowned. He wasn't /that/ thick. He raised a brow before asking. "What's its name?"

Rose laughed guiltily and moved to the side a bit so he could see him. "I'm not sure. I found him outside a couple hours ago…" She looked up at him, much like how she used to look whenever she's get into trouble. "Are you mad?"

He made a scrunched type of face before kneeling to the ground, "We'll see," he said, in response to if he was mad.

He snapped his fingers, not knowing what would come out from under the bed. He took a fry out and waved it around.

With another snort, the little monster popped up and snatched the fry from his fingers, scarfing it down quickly with his little stubby tail wagging.

Rose laughed and knelt down beside Scorpius. "Isn't he adorable?" She gushed, looking at him with pleading eyes. Scorpius had learned a long time ago in their school days that Rose was a bit of a stray animal hoarder and she wondered if that would work for or against her.

"Is it a barghest?" he asked, lifting the puppy's ears, inspecting him for horns. "He's bloody precious-looking." He gave it another french fry.

"French bulldog, I think." She said with a grin, scratching under the dog's chin. She'd rescued quite a few different breeds of dog when she lived with her parents. "He's the sweetest little thing. He ran right up to me earlier. And I gave him a bath so he smells good." She eyed Scorpius wearily, still trying to gauge his thoughts on the subject.

Scorpius reached to pet his back and was surprised that he was soft and wiggly. "Aw shit…" he said, seeing the tail and knowing the thing wasn't going anywhere.

Rose grinned excitedly at his words. "So we can keep him?" She asked hopefully.

"Aye," he said, easily turning the puppy on his back and rubbing it's belly. "I want no less than three more though."

She squealed excitedly and threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly and kissing his cheek. "Thank you!" She kissed his cheek one more time before hopping up. "Would you like to name him?" She asked happily, heading towards the food.

"He's yours to name," he said, patting its pudgy belly.

She pursed her lips as she grabbed the food from the counter and started taking out plates. "Hmm… How about Khaos?"

He's picked the dog up and carried him into the kitchen with them. "He better stay precious though."

"Of course he will." She grinned, holding a fry up to the dog's lips and watching him scarf it down. "Maybe a different name, then? Small Fry?" She laughed.

"Or Hugo, in order to piss off Hugo," he said, giving the think a kiss on the head.

She giggled and fed the pup another fry. "He does sort of look like a Hugo." She said she a teasing tone to her voice.

"I know what his name should be," he said, grinning. He held the pup up to her face and said. "Darcy."

Rose squealed, causing the pup to bark excitedly. "Darcy is perfect!" She grinned at Scorpius. "Gracious, you're brilliant. One of the many reasons I love you, you know." She laughed and kissed his cheek before kissing Darcy on the forehead.

"Darcy it is," he said, trying to turn the pup over on his back to hold it like a baby but he wasn't having it. Scorp just chuckled. "I think we need to discuss finding a bigger home.." Their family was growing.

Rose paused just a moment before setting their plates at the small kitchen table. "Like a bigger flat or like a house?" She asked, looking up at him. They'd discussed getting married their first night in this apartment and they'd discussed buying a bigger home when Scorpius felt the time was right. She was all nerves when she wondered if /this/ was the right time.

He wondered how she would react to what he had in mind. He could tell her demeanor changed a little and he wasn't sure how to tread lightly but he tried. "Something like that."

Rose studied him a moment, her eyebrow raised slightly. "That was incredibly vague… What did you have in mind?"

"I don't want you uncomfortable," he said, setting the dog down on the floor.

Rose laughed softly and sat down in one of the miss matched chairs. "Just tell me what's on your mind, love."

"I want a Manor," he said flat out. He watched her expression.

Rose didn't have much of an expression at all for a long moment. "You're not wanting us to move in with your parents or something, right?" She asked wearily. Malfoy Manor was passed down generation to generation and she really didn't fancy living with Astoria and Draco.

"God no. God no…no," he said, shaking his head. "I have a sum in inheritance, though. I'd want my own manor."

Rose relaxed rather quickly after that, her lips turning up into a smile. "I have no idea what I'd do with all that room but if that's what you want, let do it." She said simply, picking a fry off her plate and taking a bite.

"Fill it with lonely animals?" he suggested, biting into his burger.

Rose laughed, picking off a piece of the burger and feeding it to Darcy. "That's one idea."

"Or, when we're like 45, we could test that whole Weasley theory…" he said softly, trying not to sound expecting of a response.

Rose wrinkled her nose. "Forty-five?" She repeated. "So we can be senior citizens with children?"

"Essentially," he said, smiling a little.

Rose raised an eyebrow and laughed, shaking her head. "I am not popping out children when I'm that old, Scorp."

"Forty-four then," he said, hopping on the counter to sit. He loved playing with her like this. It was like when they were younger, but even better.

She smirked to herself lightly, crossing her legs as she took another bite. "Late twenties?"

"An age where your gran can still play with them.."

"I'd like for her to still be around when we have kids, yeah." She said with a small shrug. Since she's moved back to the Wizarding World, she'd been closer to her grandparents than her parents. Her gran was constantly hinting at having great grandchildren to dote on.

He nodded, trying to dismiss the feeling that maybe she didn't want to talk about it. She loved her apartment quite a lot.

"So…" She pressed on curiously, "When would you want to do this?"

"Whenever it's right for us both," he said, finishing the last of his fries. "I don't want to push this."

She smiled down at her plate before standing up and hugging him around his middle. "I'm ready whenever you are, love. The apartment is pretty cramped."

"You love this place," he countered, giving her a look that pleaded that she wasn't just saying what she thought he wanted to hear.

She shrugged and pushed his hair from his face. "We've been here a year, I've been here nearly three. We've just outgrown it." She smiled at him. "It's the memories I love more than anything but you're coming with me so I'm not too concerned."

"It can't be that easy," he said, smiling despite himself. It was never easy for them. He was playing, but he did wonder.

She laughed and stood on her toes, kissing his cheek. "I do want to keep my furniture… At least for a little while until we find stuff that we both really like. Gran helped me find most of it… And I want a giant, untidy garden with gnomes." Her eyes shine with amusement as she set her 'terms'.

His smiled broadened, and he told her what was in his mind's eye. "I want a Manor…the size and land, the outside like the one I grew up in. But the inside…all you."

Rose grinned back, tracing the inside of his palm with her finger. "I think we can make that happen, Scorp."

"Aye," he said, watching her motions.

"You know Gran will be on us about getting married the moment we move, right?" She said with a bit of a smirk. "She's pretty much got the entire thing planned out, already. It's… terrifying."

"Marriage to me is terrifying?" he asked, knowing damn well it would be if his parents had anything to do with it.

She shook her head. "No, the getting married part doesn't scare me at all. It's the ceremony that has me concerned." She was worried that their families wouldn't be able to behave themselves, honestly, and that her gran would go absolutely overboard.

"You'd do well to expect stony faces from my side of the chapel. Likely some high noses /if/ the distant relatives even come. I doubt they will. Might only be Draco and Astoria."

She smirked. "I won't be having sides." She declared stubbornly. "Everyone can sit together and get along or I'll kick them out myself."

"Let's just not invite them, shall we?" he said honestly. A pang of guilt went through him though. His mother was doing a lot better, and in turn his dad.

She shook her head again. "We're not /not/ inviting your family, Scorpius. They'll be /my/ family soon, too." She was quite passionate about family, especially after she felt she'd lost most of hers after her little hiatus. "I don't want anyone to feel like they aren't welcome, but they will be respectful. I'm just as worried about my family as yours."

He gives her a sort of 'good luck with that' expression. "Eloping is an option."

She chewed on the inside of her cheek. That was an option. "We'd have to go straight to the Burrow after and tell Gran or she'll have both of our heads… And we'll have to let Demetria know, because she'll kill us if we don't tell her… And Hugo needs to be told after too…" She looked up at him and laughed. "I'm always worrying about everyone else. Fuck the consequences, let's elope."

"You wouldn't regret it later?" he asked, eyes a little wide.

She grinned. "I'd never regret marrying you, no matter what came of it."

"You say that now…" he said, thinking of his parents. God…he really just…didn't want that.

She looked up at him, trying to gauge how he felt about everything. "What do /you/ want?"

"You. It's all I want," he said, shrugging and looking away.

Rose frowned slightly. "Scorp, there's something else…"

"What is it?" he asked, his attention perking.

She smiled slightly. "No love, you're thinking of something else. You don't seem… happy with this."

"No," he said, taking her hands and shaking his head. "It's not like that. When I got too much shit on my mind my face looks ridiculous."

She smiled softly and squeezed his hands. "Wanna share what's on your mind? So your face will stop looking ridiculous?" She teased.

"I just want things to be okay. Things are right now..like for the first time. So it's like….I fear taking another step away from this moment, if you follow," his own mind was hard to understand.

She nodded, understanding completely. "Things have always been pretty difficult for us." She said quietly, closing the space between them and resting her head on his chest. "I things will work out alright, though. We can't be scared."

"You've always been the brave one," he said, half admiringly, half bitterly.

She laughed and shook her head. "Not always. I wasn't when I ran off, or when I was too afraid to come back." She hugged him a little tighter. "You make me braver."

He shakes his head a little, not knowing how that was possible. "It's hard being brave.."

She nodded. "Sometimes being brave means doing what scares you the most. It's more of a battle of the wills, honestly. To out will yourself and do what you fear… I think this is one of those moments, not because we're scared of each other but because we're scared that is being happy means that we will have to pay for it later."

"It's always been that way," he said unhappily. He was waiting for it all to come together fully and forever.

"We've had a good year, for the most part. Just job stuff." She kissed his chest over his shirt.

"Aye," he agreed. He looked down at her, noticing just how long his hair had gotten. So long it passed his shoulders and lay on the chest she kissed.

"Don't be scared." She said quietly against his chest. "I'm not going anywhere."

"I do not deserve you, have I said this before?" he wrapped his arms around her tighter, twitching his beard with his jaw a little to tickle her nose.

The bridge of her nose scrunched up as she laughed, pulling her face back to avoid his beard. "You have, and I disagree with you every time."

"We are both disgusting fools," he said, trying to tickle her forehead this time.

She laughed and turned her face away, pressing against his chest. "Scorp!" She whined.

He stops his assault, smiling. "I will look like an old wizard soon," he said, eyeing his long locks.

She giggled and ran her fingers over his beard. "We need to get you a pair of purple robes, then." She grinned teasingly.

"And a floppy hat that tries to stay pointed but fails," he added, kissing her eye lid.

She smiled softly, her eyes closed. "And perhaps half-moon spectacles?"

"If they're on sale." he said, leaning into her and drawing her up to sit on the counter.

She grinned and opened her eyes. "I'll never get over how you can literally move me around like a rag doll." She joked, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"I'm too big," he said, trying not to sound self-conscious.

She shook her head again. "I'm too small." She countered, kissing his nose. "You're bloody perfect."

"This is why were gross," he said, chuckling and tapping his fingers along her side.

She wiggled slightly as his fingers tickled her sides. "Because we're both disproportionate to one another?" She laughed.

"Because we're so gooey," he corrected, his fingers pressing lightly now, smiling.

Rose shrugged, smiling up at him. "We're happy. I think we've earned the right to be 'gooey'." She said with a small smirk.

He chuckles again, agreeing with a nod. "You're right." he tickled her face once more before claiming her lips.

She smiled against his lips and pulled him closer. She'd never get tired of this, not ever. "That's probably the sexiest thing you've ever said, love." She teased.

"Pffft," he said, laughing into her kiss. "That's pretty disappointing isn't it?"

"Oh no, I love it. Say it again." She joked, her fingers playing with his hair.


End file.
